“A lot of room” for American investments in energy or AI in Romania, president says

Romanian president Nicușor Dan argued that there is a lot of room for new American investments in areas such as energy or artificial intelligence in Romania in an interview given on Monday, October 13.

The head of state said that foreign investments increase Romania’s economy and are generally beneficial to long-term growth.

“There is a lot of space for American investments in Romania. For that, we must define which areas are those, such as energy, minerals, IT, and artificial intelligence,” said the president, cited by News.ro.

He also argued that, aside from being an economic partner, the US offers security guarantees to Romania through its military presence in the Deveselu and Mihail Kogălniceanu bases.

“There are two main concerns at the beginning of this term: security and the economy. Security means equipment and maintaining a deterrence force in Romania. And here, the role of the United States is very important. The fact that Deveselu exists, the fact that there is an American military presence at Kogălniceanu, this is a security guarantee,” stated Nicușor Dan.

The president shrugged off recent discussions regarding the possible withdrawal of American troops from Romania or Europe and said that Romania’s interest is to maintain the continuity of the American presence. Last month, Dan also approved an increase in the US troops present at the Kogălniceanu base.

The Kogălniceanu base is considered for a more significant role following the end of the war in Ukraine and for US operations in the Middle East. The US would also benefit from the location of its Romanian bases, as they are “much closer to the Middle East area than other American military bases in Europe,” according to the president.

Nicușor Dan said in the same interview that Romania’s national defense strategy for the coming years will be laid out in a new, forthcoming document, which will be approved by the Supreme Council of National Defense, or CSAT. The document will tackle Russia’s hybrid warfare tactics in Europe and corruption head-on, according to Dan.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Calin)